Vollmer, C, Leitner, J, Kepaptsoglou, D et al. (6 more authors) (2020) A primordial 15N-depleted organic component detected within the carbonaceous chondrite Maribo. Scientific Reports, 10 (1). 20251. ISSN 2045-2322
Abstract
We report on the detection of primordial organic matter within the carbonaceous chondrite Maribo that is distinct from the majority of organics found in extraterrestrial samples. We have applied high-spatial resolution techniques to obtain C-N isotopic compositions, chemical, and structural information of this material. The organic matter is depleted in 15N relative to the terrestrial value at around δ15N ~ -200‰, close to compositions in the local interstellar medium. Morphological investigations by electron microscopy revealed that the material consists of µm- to sub-µm-sized diffuse particles dispersed within the meteorite matrix. Electron energy loss and synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopies show that the carbon functional chemistry is dominated by aromatic and C=O bonding environments similar to primordial organics from other carbonaceous chondrites. The nitrogen functional chemistry is characterized by C-N double and triple bonding environments distinct from what is usually found in 15N-enriched organics from aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites. Our investigations demonstrate that Maribo represents one of the least altered CM chondrite breccias found to date and contains primordial organic matter, probably originating in the interstellar medium.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt; Early solar system; Meteoritics |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Dec 2020 15:09 |
Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2020 15:09 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41598-020-77190-z |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:168566 |